Cornell University VIEN 1104 Wines and Vines NOTES (1)

Day 1- Terms
Ageusia- The inability to taste or perceive a sapid (taste) compound.
Anosmia- Inability to perceive an odor chemical or compound
Smell signal from the nose + taste signal from the tongue = Flavor perceived in the brain
Astringency- A feeling that makes your mouth feel rough (you feel like there’s a coating on your
tongue)
Adaptation- Transient loss of acuity due to extended exposure/decrease in responsiveness
under constant stimulation
Mixture Inhibition- Odors are less intense in mixtures (at equal concentration to their unmixed
comparisons)
Variety- Member of a wild population that can be interbred freely and can produce “true to type”
plants from seed
Cultivar- ‘Cultivated variety,” a plant that has been propagated through human intervention and
does not produce “type to type” plants by seed.
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Day 2
Importance of the Senses of Taste and Smell
1. Primitive Sense- 1000 genes
2. Olfactory and gustatory neurons are only nerve cells to regenerate regularly.
3. Essential to proper nutrition
Tasters can experience completely different wines depending on what they are ageusic/anosmic
to.

Sensation Perception
Effective Stimulus → Receptor Impulse → Brain Evaluation

Stimulus​- Any chemical, thermal or physical activator that can produce a response in a sense
receptor.
Sensation​- Organism’s immediate neurological response to a stimulus in the environment
Perception​- Created by the brain’s interpretation of the information gathered by the senses.

Wine Taste: Sweet, bitter, sour
Wine Smell: Violets, berry, intense
Wine Color: Brick red, deep, clear

Detection Threshold-- The smallest amount of a chemical that your body can​ sense​.
Recognition Threshold- The smallest concentration of a chemical that your body can ​identify.
Evaluation of Wine:
- Observe wine’s attributes
- Describe wine
- Compare with previous experiences.
- Retrieve descriptors
- Measure intensity of sensation

, - Weigh sensation against others.
- Articulate wine’s features

The 5 S’s of Evaluating Wine
See→ Clarity, viscosity, effervescence, “legs” (whites go from yellow to amber), turbidity,
sediment/crystals
Swirl
Sniff→ (Aroma, Bouquet (odors that come during or after fermentation), Off-Odors
Sip
Spit

Sensory perception- Orthonasal vs. Retronasal
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Day 3
Lecture Topics:
- Sense of Smell
- Sense of Taste
- White Vinifera Wine Evaluations

Olfactory Epithelium
- Molecules are detected through the detector cell, and then the nerve impulse is sent to
the olfactory bulb.
- There are several olfactory pathways
- Motivational and emotional responses to smell
- Conscious perception of smell
Wine Aroma Wheel- Main Categories
- Floral
- Spicy
- Fruity
- Herbaceous
- Nutty
- Cooked Sugar
- Chemical
Ex. Fruity→ Berry → Blackberry

Fungiform control much of our taste perception, filiform create texture on the tongue, papillae
each have many taste buds

Idiosyncratic Factors Affecting Taste Perception:
- Genetics
- Experiences
- Biases
- Health & Some Medications

, - Age of Taster
- Sex of Taster

Wine #1-
White Wine
Clear and translucent, though there are some particles
Scent: Fruity, possibly peachy aroma, some sugar, herbal
Taste: Slightly sour, floral, slight astringency

Wine #2
Red Wine
Slightly transparent, some sediment
Scent: Sugar, caramel, pineapple
Taste: Bitter first taste, large amount of astringency, sweet/caramel aftertaste

Wine #3
White Wine
Very translucent
Scent: Fruity, strong scent
Taste: Light

Wine #4
White Wine
Very translucent, very clear
Scent: Extremely floral scent, medicine
Taste: Fairly sweet, slightly astringent

Wine #5
White Wine
More yellow
Scent: Buttered popcorn, toasty
Taste:Sweet
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Day 4

Cows and Wine→ Cows became more vocal when given wine, got excited when they were
given more wine. The meat also seemed to be more tender.

Food Preservation in Ancient Times → Smoking, drying, freezing, fermentation.

Effects of Food Fermentation:
- Prevents spoilage
- Improved texture and taste

, - Increased food’s value and healthfulness.

Wine was discovered, rather than invented

Basic Wine Production Steps:
Harvest → Destem and Crush → Ferment (Whites) or Press (Reds) and Macerate the skin,
seeds, and juice → Drink

Vinho Verde→ Region in Portugal that produces wines with grapes that are allowed to grow
high and vertically. Low alcohol, not a lot of color, tart or sour, spritziness

MLF→ A bacteria does this because of all of the acid in the wine.

Neolithic Origin of Grapes and Wine- Grape wine fermentations flourished around 5400 BC in
Armenia, northern Iran, and southern Caucasia
​ ylvestris (fertile crescent)
- Presence of wild Eurasian grapes, ​Vitis Vinifera S
- Availability of cereal crops
- By 6000BCE, pottery art
- Earliest winemaking→ Kwevri below ground (narrow neck, wide body, point at bottom)
→ Amphora
- Yellow River Valley → 7000-9000 BC
- Jaihu→ Mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey, and fruit

Starch can be broken down into its sugar components and then fermented by yeast
Conversion Methods:
- Mastication (ptaylin)
- Malting (diastase)
- Qu (mold)
- Grain carbohydrates → Mold species→ Simple sugars → Yeast species → Rice
wine
Grog → Mixture of grains, honey, herbs, and fruit, fermented. Did not have bubbles in ancient
times.
Midas Touch→ Cross between Mead and Wine, tasting notes- honey, saffron, papaya, melon,
biscuit, succulent

Ancient Egypt→ Wine jar seals, Vineyard→ The pressing step is separating the solids from the
liquids→ First wine labels (seals on containers)
*Tartaric Acid→ Grape wine
Syringic Acid→ Red wine
Ulua Valley of N. Honduras → Earliest cacao consumption→ Fermentation creates chemicals
that change the seed.
Rome→ Grapevines were transported to the Greek islands. Wine was thought of as a very
sophisticated beverage. Encouragement from the emperor to plant more vineyards.